Checkmate

Unlike the West which is embracing mottled and scruffy, and with Gucci blurring the lines between the two genders, men in India still prefer monochromes and a smattering of grey, though Abhishek Patni brought ‘in’ the outdoors with his parkas and faux fur lining

By Asmita Aggarwal

If there was too much estrogen at AIFW, the last day balanced it all out with oodles of testosterone and a galaxy of stars at the sole menswear show. The legendary Bishen Singh Bedi’s son Angad with the pint-sized, energy pack Nora Fatehi in tow, galvanised the monochromatic palette of Pawan Sachdeva. Guys were finally playing dress up and trousers were ending at the ankles! This time it was checks, stripes and squares, though no one became Gosha Rubchinskiy or his “Empire of Evil” reviving fashion in the Post-Soviet era so much so that Comme des Garcons produces and distributes his brand.

Even though Pawan has been around for more than a decade in fashion, he likes to fly under the radar, his men in skirts, just like what Ranveer Singh had flaunted post Bajirao-Mastani along with pleated, asymmetrical kurtas and jackets with glittering trees made autumn fun.

Though the loudest applause must truly go to the engineer-turned-reluctant designer Abhishek Patni of the label Nought One, who took the road less travelled, not because he got the uber cool songstress Anushka Manchanda as his showstopper, but he was able to take a calculated risk that worked to his advantage. The misplaced large pockets, disobedient camouflage prints and the raw, unfinished look was, as if, he was deliberately swimming against the tide.

From the famous Ramsons family, Dhruv Vaish’s grandfather had ventured into menswear pre-independence and today he is carrying forward the legacy. The silver tipped sneakers, waistcoats with hoodies, anoraks sans any hardware and hounds tooth trousers, white shirts with rivets on collars saw Commonwealth heavyweight wrestler Sangram Singh move to Are you gonna be my girl? by the Australian rock band Jet, peacocking the clean construction.

Though it was Kommal and Ratul Sood from Kolkata, who kept handlooms on the forefront with Bhagalpuri jackets, handloom silks and Giza cottons as Smita Patil’s son Prateek Babbar caught everyone’s undivided attention with his white tuxedo jacket and Jodhpur-style trousers.

Rohit Kamra’s zip detailing had that nonchalant vibe, and in keeping with the current trend, menswear is the fastest growing segment, a flamboyant reflection of our times where, the ones who once wanted to play it safe, now aspire to be adventurous, even though no one was slipping in a pink, anything, under their suits. There were clashing prints and pinstripes and military boots. At a time when Gucci is blurring the boundaries between men and womenswear, our designers kept it strictly gender specific, minus a few hearts floating here and there on woven jackets by Sahil Aneja, who also got half-Italian former model Dino Morea to make a few in the audience flutter!